Fermenting is a science, and a bit of an art. It requires care in a few specific things, but doing it right is not particularly complicated. We provide instructions that are accurate to the best of our knowledge, and which are based on the methods we successfully practice ourselves. There are no guarantees of success or safety with fermented foods. While properly fermented foods are not only safe, but healthy to eat, it is up to you to follow instructions to ensure safety, and to trust your eyes and nose, and don't eat things that do not look or smell like food. We offer no guarantees of success with our product. We do warrant that it is as described, and will do what we say it will, but how you use it is your choice.

Non-Alcoholic Alternatives to Kombucha

Not all of these are drinks. All work on the presumption that the goal is two-fold, that of providing an herbal benefit, and a probiotic benefit, without the harmful alcohol in traditional and herbal kombucha.

Now, we know, from the great Kombucha debacle of 2010, that if an alcohol containing beverage has carbonation caused by fermentation, and has NOT had pressurized carbon dioxide added, that it is OVER the limit for classification as an alcoholic beverage, and it is therefore illegal to give it to children in the US, and not advised for use by pregnant women, or those with conditions or medications that interact poorly with alcohol.

Let me repeat part of that – If a fermented beverage has carbonation (and you did not add carbon dioxide manually), IT IS ALCOHOLIC, and capable of intoxicating a child, and potentially damaging a child in utero, and it is NOT RECOMMENDED for healing the body!

Normally, carbon dioxide does NOT suspend in a liquid. It bubbles out. It bubbles out of kraut and pickles, because there is no significant alcohol volume to suspend it. As the alcohol content rises, carbon dioxide begins to stay suspended in it (dissolved in it), and does not bubble out as easily.

We also know that Beet Kvass is brewed to an average alcohol content of 11%, often more, and no, I did not misplace a decimal, that is ELEVEN percent. It is done the same way homemade soda is done, and the same way water kefir, and kombucha is done. The more fizzy, the higher the alcohol content. The finer the bubbles, the higher the alcohol content.

Kombucha in the great Kombucha debacle had alcohol levels of 3% and higher. Often MUCH higher. Enough to cause intoxication in children, and enough to damage intestinal bacteria and intestinal wall cells.

So what do you do? Do you give up Kombucha entirely? Do you try to make it safe by making it another way? Or do you go for alternatives?

You can try making your kombucha safe. To do that, you have two choices:

1. You can push it through the alcoholic phase, and into a vinegar stage, just like ACV. You just sweeten it again before you drink it, and have a sweet and sour flavor.

2. You can put it into an open container (wide is better than tall), and shake it every time you go by to evaporate out the alcohol. I recommend a cloth cover, because fruit flies love this, and while it makes a great fruit fly trap, that isn’t really the intention here! When it is FLAT (no bubbles), it is safe to drink.

Other options exist also, that are NOT kombucha.

Pickled herb drink. Salt cure chopped herbs, in the same manner as pickles, in a brine with a slightly low salt percentage. Keep in the fridge. Use a tablespoonful or two of the brine, combined with water, and lightly sweetened.

Apple cider vinegar drink. Honey, ACV, and water, either hot or cold. (Some people react really well to this, some people do not, so please don’t force this on your children, if they do not like it, chances are they cannot tolerate it.)

Freshly squeezed lemonade, or limeade. Yes, there are probiotics in fresh lemons, and if you add other fresh fruit, you get even more.

Infused waters. Ok, I think these are kinda dumb, and a gimmick. But you do get a wee bit of herbal benefit, and you do get a bit of probiotics if you use fresh fruits or herbs or veggies. If you add very thin pieces of fruit or veggies, to a cooled brewed tea, you’ll get both.

Fresh fruit and veggie smoothies. You get more nutrition from whole foods than from tea anyway. If you really need a strong probiotic, I add yogurt or raw milk, and a raw egg.

Juice from fresh kraut or fresh brined pickles. Use this in your meals, or serve as a refreshing drink the same way you do with ACV, with some raw honey to power pack it.

These things are not drinks, but are foods with a high probiotic and nutritional content, that do not have the alcohol backlash.

Salt rising bread. Really. It contains healthy bacteria that are not killed in the cooking process, and which can colonize your intestinal tract. Making it is a skill. http://coddiwomplefarm.com/index.php/coddiwompling-blog/28-some-finicky-things-really-aren-t-finicky

Dry cured meats. LOADED with meat tenderizing bacteria, if you use them raw like prosciutto (this is safe to do, and you only need a thin slice). http://coddiwomplefarm.com/index.php/coddiwompling-blog/30-adventures-in-dry-curing

Probiotics in fresh fruits and veggies – Fresh fruits and vegetables contain a wide variety of microbes for health. When you lacto-ferment vegetables, it is the probiotics in them that grow in the brine, creating an acid environment.

Probiotics in raw honey. Raw honey is also full of lovely friendly microbes, and a range of other benefits.

Probiotics in yogurt and kefir. We all know that these two foods are loaded with friendly bacteria and yeasts. So is buttermilk and sour cream, and many cheeses.

Sugar in homemade soda. Homemade soda still has a fairly high amount of sugar, or other simple carbohydrate. Fermentation only reduces it somewhat, but does not eliminate it.

Other alcoholic home ferments. The rules for sugary ferments hold for any food with simple carbohydrates, including fruits, fruit juices, potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, and other starchy vegetables.

The ORIGINAL one-way valve fermenting airlock! Imitation IS the sincerest form of flattery, and we have noticed that our product has been copied by other sellers of fermenting products. Remember, if you see someone else selling a one-way valve airlock for fermenting, THEY copied US, not the other way around! Fermenta Lock is still the only original invention, handmade in the US. If it isn't orange, it isn't the original!

We invented Fermenta Lock, Fermenta Free, and the valve used for Fermenta Fido and other Fermenta Airlock products. We invented Fermenta Dunk Extender. Patents are prohibitively expensive, and designed by the government not to protect the rights of individuals, but to provide another source of revenue and control for the government and lawyers. We are good at what we do. We have endless ideas and endless creativity, and competition does not scare us. Impatient thieves do not scare us - they are too busy taking shortcuts to make a success of it anyway, and they won't want to take the effort to actually MAKE a product and fill orders.

So if you want to copy our idea, go right ahead. If you want to market and sell a competing product, you are welcome to do so, as long as you do not patent our idea - we had it first, and our posts on FaceBook announcing the invention and launch of it will prove that. This idea is officially in the public domain, placed there by us. We will NOT release supply sources, or part names unless you want to buy them - we'll be happy to sell you an instruction kit. If you buy our product, or look at the images and figure it out for yourself, good on you. Compete with us if you like, just don't screw us, and we'll get along just fine. Big companies who might want to screw us may have more money, and more lawyers than we do, but we have more to gain by suing the pants off a big company, and believe me, we will be well motivated to do so if anyone patents our idea and claims it as their own - this is a free idea. Everybody now owns it.

Published June 23, 2012

Wholesale, Export, and Manufacture of this product by other companies is an option. International distributorships are available for those wishing to export. Please email us to inquire about access to our wholesale website, or in regards to manufacturing any of our products.

Business Building Services Are Available - If you are wanting to build a business like this, where you make things in the home and sell them direct to the customer, or if you want to build a business that you can sell to other people as a complete business package, Firelight Heritage Farm is now offering Cottage Industry Services to aid small business owners in building a successful product or service business from the home. Don't know what you want to do? We can help you figure that out too (something original, and just yours, not a canned business). You get the wisdom and uniquely successful perspective and experience of people who have been business, marketing, and website professionals for more than a dozen years. For more information, visit CottageIndustrialRevolution.com. Why copy someone else's business when you can do something uniquely you and enjoy it so much more?

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Uses of Fermenta Lock

Fermenta Lock is a compact airlock cap for mason jars, to help in making old fashioned brined pickles, and other lacto-fermented foods. Use Fermenta Lock for:

“Living down in Guatemala, we have quite a lot of dampness in our houses and mold is an ongoing battle. After a long dose of antibiotics due to a parasite, I absolutely required probiotics to get my gut back in order and I know homemade sauerkraut has more probiotic content than anything else I could find here. I wasn’t able to make my beloved sauerkraut or even Kombucha in my kitchen because mold would start growing immediately on the top. Your Fermenta Locks have literally been a lifesaver for me! No more mold, and PERFECT Kraut EVERY time!!! Thank you for creating such a wonderful product!!!”

A. Kratzert

“Oh how I wish I had found you first!! Too many experts and too many bucks later I discovered your “Lock” and the sheer elegance and simplicity of your system.Thank you for your help and affordability, it makes healthy food attainable.”

Bob

“I came back to order more FermentaCaps. A wonderful innovation. I have not lost a single batch of sauerkraut since I started using the original Fermenta Locks.”

Martha

“Please continue your good work on producing such a great product. I’ve tried lots of other kinds of airlocks- the 3 piece water lock, pickle pipes, fermilid, boss pickler, and I think yours is the best design and quality. I’d like to order another 100 of them right now, but I’ll have to wait a bit. I’ve had lifelong health challenges. I’m 38 and about 20 years ago my health was so bad I didn’t feel like living most of the time. Now my health is the best it’s ever been and it wouldn’t be possible without fermented vegetables, they have made a huge improvement in my health.”